Home > CBS’s Schieffer Pushes Romney to Move ‘Toward the Center,’ Urges Him to Say ‘I’m a Moderate’

CBS’s Schieffer Pushes Romney to Move ‘Toward the Center,’ Urges Him to Say ‘I’m a Moderate’

By

Brent Baker

September 30, 2012 - 5:18pm

For the second week in a row, on Sunday morning CBS’s Bob Schiefer
identified Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s problem as
not that’s he’s been too timid in laying out an alternative to President
Obama but, in the tired media mantra of many election cycles, that he’s
too conservative. He pressed guest Newt Gingrich: “Do you think that Mitt Romney’s got to move a little bit more toward the center here as we come toward the election?”

Last Sunday, in discussing Romney’s challenge in connecting with
voters, Schieffer wondered: “Does any of this go back to the fact that
what if, in the beginning” he “had said, ‘Look, I’m a moderate. You know, I know we have conservatives in this party and I know we have the Tea Party, but the fact is I’m a moderate...’”

On this morning’s Face the Nation,
September 30, Gingrich rejected the premise: “No, I think Mitt Romney
has to move to clarity in drawing the contrast between the two
futures...”

From September 23, to a panel which included Peggy Noonan, who cut him off:

Does any of this go back to the fact that what if, in the beginning,
Peggy -- what if Mitt Romney had said, “Look, I'm a moderate. You know, I
know we have conservatives in this party and I know we have the Tea
Party, but the fact is I’m a moderate. I was a moderate governor. Haley
Barbour is not going to get elected Governor of Massachusetts anymore
than I would be elected Governor of Mississippi.”

It seems to me that, that somehow Mitt Romney has been pushed beyond a
point where I wonder if he really is sometimes, and certainly if you go
back and look at his record, you have to-

-- Brent Baker is Vice President for Research and Publications at the Media Research Center. Click here[1] to follow Brent Baker on Twitter.

Federal employees and military personnel can donate to the Media Research Center through the Combined Federal Campaign or CFC. To donate to the MRC, use CFC #12489. Visit the CFC website for more information about giving opportunities in your workplace.